Critiques and Criticisms of English Literature

        In William Dean Howells' Criticism and Fiction, he argues that honest truth makes literature good, rather than how famous the author is. He uses English literature as his example as he contrasts Jane Austen with other authors like, Bronte, Thackeray, Dickens, and Eliot. Howells commends Austen for using simple truths and, "instructs a man to think what he likes is good, instead of teaching him first to distinguish what is good before he likes it" (Howells 1). Her work is also loved for its truthful character, not solely on her ability to write or convey her own qualities through her work. He compares her to Anthony Trollope, who also wrote with entire truthfulness, rather than the romantic-type authors of his day. Howells thinks authors should write with detail towards that which is good because it conveys truth, rather than giving of details of beautiful or ugly things, which they consider good or bad not based on the truth of the statement.

      The arguments and claims that Howells presents in Criticism and Fiction closely align with the what Berger, in "Ways of Seeing," calls bogus religiosity. Bogus religiosity in the context of Criticism and Fiction appears when Howells realizes that the authors, more than the truths they present, account for the approval or disapproval of criticizers and readers. Howells writes, "Because English criticism, in the presence of the Continental masterpieces, has continued provincial and special and personal, and has expressed a love and a hate which had to do with the quality of the artist rather than the character of his work" (Howells 1). Both Berger and Howells want and explain that readers not fall to mystification but rather engage the truths, though they may be few in English texts, that the authors build in their works.

Why is England the only European nation that Howells lists that has this specific problem addressed in the essay, rather than other authors that he mentions, like Scandinavian, Latin, and Slavic authors?

Realism and the Rights of the Working Class

       In Rebecca Harding Davis's "Life in the Iron Mills," she uses America's own short story to convey the hardships of the working class, particularly those whose lives surround the iron mills. Davis addresses urbanization, the American Dream, and economic opportunity in terms of realism. Through Hugh and Deborah Wolfe, Davis conveys how life for these and many like them suffer and are deprived of the rights that America is "so-called" built on. The story introduces an important concept of money leading to success, but also that the money that factory workers receive won't give them any opportunity. Instead, they live lives of crime, drinking, and some eventually kill themselves, as Hugh committed suicide at the end of the story.

       When Hugh's sculpting talents are found out by the group of higher class men, they believe Hugh's talents are great enough for him to make a better life for himself outside of the bonds of factory working. His description of the sculptor being hungry and its meaning shows his intelligence is greater than their stereotypical views of the workers. The Doctor tells Hugh, "Make yourself what you will. It is your right,"but they don't help him further than that (Davis 1226). This is what de Crevecoeur explains in Letters of an American Farmer.  He says that in America, men control their own fate depending on how hard they work. He claims that however hard a man works, he will be equally rewarded. They are the rights of the hardworking men of America, who really are men from many places who have come together with a common dream. "Life in the Iron Mills" shows that the same teachings and dreams of rights and economic, increasing success is still present in America. Deborah explains this to Hugh when she gives him the stolen money, but he soon learns that his rights are limited; not even Americans living here already can succeed in the dream that has been implanted in them since de Crevecoeur.

Was Mitchell of a lower class before making himself a life, since he had some tenderheartedness towards Hugh during the conversation about his sculpture?

Consumer Products = Tangible Narcissism

       In "Liking is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts," Franzen claims that technology and consumer products keep people from having an actual life, especially loving relationships; therefore people need to flock towards what causes painful emotions. Consumer products are like narcissistic people because they are manufactured "to be immensely likable" (Franzen 1). They and social networks, like Facebook, cause humans to live as narcissists because humans are focused much more on themselves and what they "like". When it's time to truly love someone, it's impossible to like all of them so you will destroy your  likable image of a person during arguments. "Something realer than likability has come out in you, and suddenly you're having an actual life" (Franzen 2). Then, Franzen explains that love will cause pain, but it will be easier to cope with and embrace when the pain is due to what you love. 

       Towards the end of his essay, Franzen describes how he came to love birds by looking for wrong in the world. The way in which he learned something about man through his experiences with nature is what Emerson conveyed in his essay, "Nature." Franzen wasn't necessarily looking to learn something about man from nature or forcing himself to think about nature's creation or harmony, but he was really wanting to find something wrong with the world to deal with his pain. "My anger and pain and despair about the planet were only increased by my concern for wild birds, and yet, as I began to get involved in bird conservation and learned more about the many threats that birds face, it became easier, not harder, to live with my anger and despair and pain" (Franzen 3). Here Franzen connects truth about a connection between nature and man, like a transcendentalist, to learn about love between men and the way love works.

Would Franzen recommend getting rid of all social networking to those who support his claims?